The DIIP: How to get started

Look again to Thoreau’s observation. It describes the essence of this work:

I learned this… that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

It appears that something is needed first, if we are to advance in the direction of our dreams.

There is a prerequisite:

In order to live your dreams, you must first identify them. How can you know which direction to take, if you don’t know where you want to go? If you are serious about living your Dream, you must define it. Don’t worry; this is not a difficult process. Your Dream needs you as badly as you need it.

Your destination makes a whole lot of difference, doesn’t it? If you drive northeast from Los Angeles, you can wind up in Denver. Drive southwest a little ways from Los Angeles and you will be sitting in the Pacific Ocean. Is there a difference? There is a huge difference. And if your aim is to attend a convention in Denver, then your direction makes all of the difference.

Don’t fall for the “It’s all good” idea. It’s not all good. Ask someone who is living on the street. Ask someone who just lost a child to the insanity of a drunk driver. It’s not “all good” at all. Sometimes, it’s terrible.

What about people who want unhealthy, mean things? Will they get what they want too? The truth is that we are always reaping the results of our thoughts and actions. That is why it is so very important to fight despair and fear. If you inevitably find what you seek, doesn’t it make sense to pursue things that offer substance, health, and joy? Those who seek death have never experienced life.

Listen: You don’t need to have it all figured out right now. All you really need to do is stop procrastinating and get started. Read this guidebook slowly and deliberately. Take it a piece at a time. You’ve come this far because you want something to happen. Keep putting what you learn here into practice… and it will happen.